Review: Hardly a Gentleman by Eloisa James

Hardly a Gentleman is a little odd, a little meandering, and weirdly obsessed with the MMC’s dead wife and mildew—but it’s also classic EJ in a lot of ways. And for that, I still had a good time.

Let’s start with Caelan: Scottish laird, brooding widower, fishing-naked-in-a-loch kind of guy. He’s been widowed for two years, and while he’s moved on emotionally, his village and very-much-still-in-residence MIL haven’t gotten the memo. The man can’t breathe without someone invoking his dearly departed.

Enter Clara, a feisty debutante fleeing scandal (because of course there’s groping and London drama), who decides the best solution is to hop in a carriage and pretend to be a maid in the wilds of Scotland. Logical? No. Entertaining? Also… kind of no? Honestly, we spend so much time on her journey and her banter with the driver that I started to wonder if he was the real love interest.

Clara and Caelan have a proper meet-naked-cute, and from there, we get what should be a delicious forced proximity situation. But instead, it’s a lot of cleaning. Like, a lot of cleaning. And an endless loop of Caelan reminiscing about his wife. The balance of grief and new love felt off to me—it dragged down the chemistry that was trying to spark between Clara and Caelan.

That said, I did like the romance once it finally kicked in. EJ’s brand of hero—the “I’ll never marry—oh wait, I’ll marry her” type—is here in full force, and Caelan falls hard and fast. Clara resists (a little frustratingly, tbh), but their banter has charm and their eventual connection feels earned, even if it’s buried under all the domestic chores and ghost-wife mentions.

Clara’s stubbornness tested my patience—girl, he’s a laird who wants to marry you, maybe stop scrubbing floors and say yes? But I appreciated her independence, even if I wanted her to make better choices sooner.

In the end, was this peak Eloisa James? No. Did I still read the whole thing in one sitting and have a decent time? Absolutely. I’m not mad, just mildly exhausted by the mold scrubbing.

Thanks to Avon Books for the ARC! And thanks to Eloisa James, who I will always ride for—even when her heroines are knee-deep in chamber pots and emotional baggage.